Saturday 15 June 2013 07.22 EDT
First published on Saturday 15 June 2013 04.42 EDT

12.22pm BST

Full-time: Waratahs 17-47 Lions

And that is that. Nothing more to report from here except for a late break by the home side which was stopped in its tracks by Jones. That was an impressive performance, though not without its faults, from the chaps from the northern hemisphere and several players will have staked their claim for a spot in the Test side. The only downside is the injury to Roberts. Enjoy the rest of your day. Bye!

Updated at 12.31pm BST

12.19pm BST

78 mins Fair play to the Waratahs, they haven't just rolled over and have continued to attack despite being out of this game for quite some time now. (Mitchell and Foley in particular have been excellent). They have just came up against an awesome machine in the Lions.

Updated at 12.20pm BST

12.16pm BST

75 mins "Is there a better full-back in world rugby than Halfpenny?" asks Doogski. "If you'd watched a Monsieur Dagg ce matin, you would know that there (probably) is!"

12.15pm BST

73 mins The fans are leaving already.

12.15pm BST

Try! Waratahs 17-47 Lions (Davies; con Farrell)

71 mins Another try and again it was all too easy for the Lions. Farrell breaks forward, is tackled and offloads. At the subsequent breakdown, the Lions are given too much time and space and the ball is spun out to Davies who jogs over the line. Farrell does the rest.

Updated at 12.47pm BST

12.10pm BST

69 mins The Lions attack down the left and then down the right. It looks like they are just killing time really. There is some bad news though, very bad news. Roberts has just limped off with some hamstring-ouch! It does not look good for him and he grimaces some under the attention of the physio.

Updated at 12.11pm BST

12.07pm BST

66 mins The Lions are practising their scrum under the Waratahs' posts. It doesn't go well. This could be a real worry come Test time.

Updated at 12.32pm BST

12.06pm BST

65 mins Oooof, while I was typing out all those subs, the Lions nearly picked up two tries.

12.05pm BST

62 mins "Morning Ian, Morning everyone" cheers Matt Dony. "I feel a little bit like I'm cheating on football by emailing you about this, but as a Welshman, this Lions tour is fantastic. Is there a better full-back in world rugby than Halfpenny?" Probably not.

57 mins Crawford and the Waratahs break down the right but fumble the ball just a moment or two from the line. No need for the home fans to worry too much as they had a penalty anyway. They kick for the corner but the Lions clear the lines.

Updated at 12.33pm BST

11.56am BST

Try! Waratahs 17-40 Lions (Croft; con Halfpenny)

54 mins This is getting a bit too easy. A beautiful interception from Davis bisects the Waratahs defence. There is a hint of offside but he runs for it anyway and he is soon taken down. The ball is recycled to the right where it reaches Croft who hands off Kingston (just on as a sub) puts his foot down and makes it to the church line on time. Halfpenny keeps on kicking beautifully.

Penalty! Waratahs 17-33 Lions (Halfpenny)

51 mins Another penalty, another conversion from Halfpenny. Impressive stuff this from the full-back.

Updated at 12.47pm BST

11.48am BST

49 mins Some sub news. Sexton off; Farrell on.

11.47am BST

Try! Waratahs 17-30 Lions (Carter; con McKibbin)

46 mins And what a response from the Waratahs. Straight away they run their way back into the Lions half. Down in the corner Skelton pop passes to Carter who goes over the line. But the man in charge is not sure it's a try – he thinks there is a knock-on – and so the decision goes to the TMO. But said TMO is happy enough that all was in order and that there was no knock-on and so Carter has his second try of the game. McKibbin converts.

Updated at 12.46pm BST

11.42am BST

Try! Waratahs 10-30 Lions (Halfpenny; Halfpenny)

43 mins Well well, what a nice try that is and on their first attack of the second half too. Sexton, Roberts and Davies combine down on the left and put Halfpenny away for his second try of the game. That same Halfpenny does not miss the conversion and looks like he will never ever miss a conversion again in his entire life.

Updated at 12.46pm BST

11.38am BST

41 mins The Waratahs get going straight away making some room down the right. They switch sides but are adjudged to have blocked illeagally and the Lions are awarded a penalty.

There is a camera in the dressing room!

Half time! Waratahs 10-23 Lions

Leigh Halfpenny dives in to score. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Updated at 12.38pm BST

11.24am BST

Try! Waratahs 10-23 Lions (Halfpenny; con Halfpenny)

The Lions still have possession as they power their way to the Waratahs' end zone, so to speak. They move the ball from near the line on the right, through some nice handling by O'Connell, Sexton and Davies, out to the left and Halfpenny crashes over in some space. The same man kicks the conversion.

Updated at 12.46pm BST

11.21am BST

37 mins The Waratahs break down the right after Mitchell's one-handed offload puts Crawford into some serious space. Crawford pegs it for the posts but Halfpenny sticks in a stonker of a tackle and the home side are forced to go left and then right and then left and then right. The move eventually breaks down and the Lions have possession once again.

Updated at 11.26am BST

11.17am BST

34 mins This is a bit too close isn't it?

11.17am BST

Penalty! Waratahs 10-16 Lions (McKibbin)

32 mins Speaking of Youngs, he has just given away a penalty. There is a smattering of booooooooooooooos as the Waratahs decide to kick for the posts from a fair way out. McKibbin sizes it up and he does not miss.

Updated at 12.46pm BST

11.14am BST

31 mins Youngs needs some attention which gives us all time to take a bit of a breather. This has been gung-ho so far.

11.12am BST

29 mins Zebo watch! He has just caught the most sumptuous of catches in the Waratahs' half that left, Mitchell, I think, flat on the ground after he got caught with the elbow. The Lions get a scrum about five meters from the line but they fail to do anything of note with it.

Updated at 12.39pm BST

11.09am BST

Penalty! Waratahs 7-16 Lions (Halfpenny)

26 mins A penalty for the Lions – given for a shoving on Phillips off the ball – from quite a way out, is slotted over, again, with such ease from Halfpenny. There is no way that Kearney will play his way into this side now.

Updated at 12.45pm BST

11.06am BST

23 mins Waratahs have really come into the game a lot more since that try and are now forcing their way towards the Lions' 22 and forcing the Lions into some always welcome tackling training. Waratahs get a penalty and Foley goes for the corner (the crowd love that). A quick lineout almost catches the Lions unaware as Skelton crashes over the line. But the big man, and he is big, spills the ball when it comes to try time and that is no try. That was a bit too close for comfort.

Updated at 12.40pm BST

11.03am BST

20 mins Sexton needed the smelling salts to help him get over that big hit that brought him to his knees just before that Waratahs try.

Jonathan Sexton celebrates his try. Photograph: David Davies/PA

Updated at 11.27am BST

11.01am BST

Penalty! Waratahs 7-13 Lions (Halfpenny)

17 mins Sexton is back up and A-OK. Zebo is EVERYWHERE as the Lions counterattack and look to respond to that try. The Lions get a penalty for offside right in front of the posts and Halfpenny decides that ball needs a kicking. The crowd don't like that and let their feelings be known. Halfpenny don't care though and he kicks it through the posts with ease.

Updated at 12.44pm BST

10.58am BST

Try! Waratahs 5-10 Lions (Carter; con McKibbin)

14 mins I was just about to tell how this is this is all about the Lions as they keep moving the ball from wing to wing and how this would almost certainly end up in a cricket score when all of a sudden, the home side break down the right and score in the corner! Where the Hell did that come from? Sexton is down and hurt by the way. McKibbin converts with a delicious kick from the line.

Updated at 12.45pm BST

10.53am BST

10 mins The Lions push the pack and work the ball out to the right. It should be a try as they have some space left over and plenty of players to do the necessaries but Mitchell, once more, stops a certainty when he tackles Roberts, who knocks the ball on.

10.51am BST

9 mins The Waratahs finally get out of their own half. They are soon put back in their place.

Updated at 11.28am BST

10.49am BST

Try! Waratahs 0-10 Lions (Sexton; con Halfpenny)

6 mins The Lions machine is looking powerful. Under some severe pressure, Waratahs clear their lines. The Lions counterattack down the left once again and thanks to some deft hands and nice running from Davies and Zebo – I told you he'd do good – sets Sexton free for the game's first try. Halfpenny converts.

Updated at 12.45pm BST

10.46am BST

Penalty! Waratahs 0-3 Lions (Halfpenny)

3 mins Horne picked up Youngs, I think, and laid him down in a not so suitable manner meaning it's a penalty to the away side. Halfpenny steps up, takes a breath and does his thing. Great start this from the Lions.

Updated at 12.44pm BST

10.43am BST

2 mins: Waratahs took that quick well, cleared their lines and Lions take possession. The ball works its way out to the left wing and the hands of Zebo. Robets decoys and Zebo floors it down the line. He jumps for the line but Mitchell gets there just in time and ensures that Zebo goes out of touch rather than scoring the game's first try. It was a close call though.

The first email of the day

And it comes from the fingers of Andy Bradshaw who is up and ready and presumably perky about today's game. Here's what Andy has to say.

I have mixed feeling about RoG's battering, part of me thinks it's an outrage, then the other half remembers the second test in 09, his impersonation of a draft excluder when attempting to prevent the equalising try, that moronic up and under and his post match refusal to take any blame & I wonder whether karma was just working in reverse.

I quite like RoG – although I have a feeling I am in the minority – especially when he does things like this.

Video of the day

Good morning! Good morning!

There were 11 dials on the amplifiers in Spinal Tap, there were 11 pipers piping on the 11th day of Christmas and there were 11 blows landed on Ronan O'Gara's grill when the Waratahs’ Duncan McRae mistook the former Ireland fly-half's mug for the iBoxer Striptease Adult Themed Boxing Machine. "We wanted to put a stamp down and bash them up a bit before the Tests," chirped McRae of one the most one-sided donnybrooks in the history of rugby. And bash them up is exactly what McRae did. See this video for further details/to jog your memory.

That match was the last time that Lions played a warmer-upper in Sydney and u̶n̶f̶o̶r̶t̶u̶n̶a̶t̶e̶l̶y fortunately there will be none of that carry-on going on. "I think those days are gone," mused the Waratahs high-commander Michael Cheika the other day when he was questioned over McRae's mischief-making. What we can expect though, if the previous matches are anything to go by, is same bloody good rugger and, of course, the Lions debut of Simon Zeboooooooo.

Zeboooooooo was called into the squad, oh, about *checks watch, realises he is not wearing a watch, checks pocket for phone, can’t find phone, has minor heart attack, finds phone in other pocket* two minutes ago now and is probably still getting over the jet lag after he zoomed his way from the fields of America to the land of thunder. But Warren Gatland believes that the Munster man/machine, who may be young and raw and lacking experience and still learning his trade and all that jazz, can do a number for the squad and when he can pulls of this sort of stuff in a Six Nations match, who are we to argue?

Here's a thought, with all these injuries in the back pack – more of which anon – Zeboooooooo couldn't sneak his way onto the team could he? No you're right. I was just day dreaming. Sorry. Maybe though? No, again, sorry you’re right. "Why not? If I have a great game then I’ll surely be in with a shout," is what Zeboooooooo himself thinks. But the fun of watching Zeboooooooo do his thing and possibly play his way into the team should not distract from the fact that today is not about fun. No siree Bob, not for the players anyway, not this close to a Test match and not with some spots still up for grabs.

Speaking of being serious and Test teams, grab a gander at that back-row (see below for the full team) and tell me that doesn't have the look and feel and touch of three lads (including the revitalised Sam Warburton) that are going to inflict the sort of pain we mere, miserable mortals can only nightmare about when the first test against A̶u̶s̶t̶r̶a̶l̶i̶a the Qantas Wallabies rolls around. Or should Sean O'Brien or Justin Tipuric or Dan Lydiate start? That is quite the noodle scratcher, no? The backs will change, of that there can be no doubt, (the wings being the problem waiting in the wings) but this bunch of forwards may, just may, sneak their way into the starting 15 come Brisbane.

Back to those aforementioned injuries for a moment or two. Although thoughts of George North and Manu Tuilagi are still keeping Gatland and his henchmen up into the wee small hours of the morning, good news comes in the words Rob and Kearney. The Ireland full-back, who played in all three Tests in South Africa four years ago and is, in general, pretty awesome, has has not seen the proper side of the pitch since the tour began due to some hamstring-ouch! But today he is back and on the bench and, one assumes, raring to go when he is given his chance. Jonny Sexton and Owen Farrell are also over their various bumps and bruises and both of them will feature today. Fear not for BOD/GOD, he is getting over the splits and is being rested. He will be ready in time.

Raring to go is also what the Waratahs will be. We all expectedthem to follow in the footsteps of the teams that wilted in the face of the Lions roar and play something of a weaker side. But then a curve ball came in the shape of certain players being released for this game, those certain players being captain Dave Dennis and Rob Horne (Australia's sevens side also released Bernard Foley and Matt Lucas).

The Waratahs are still missing eight other players who are pitchedin international camp but, unlike the match against Combined NSW-QLD Country, this will not be an easy afternoon on Manly beach followed by a few relaxing schooners in the Artichoke Cafe on Central Avenue. The previously mentioned players, as well as the likes of Paddy Ryan and Drew Mitchell, will see to that. "As long as there's a chance [of winning], we'll take it. Anything in red that moves, we'll have a crack at," warned Cheika possibly forgetting his earlier words about those days being gone.

All in all it should be a fascinating game so let's just collectively cross legs, fingers and eyes that there are no major injury concerns come the final whistle. Those teams in full then read as follows: